C8 Corvette is Attracting Significantly Wealthier Buyers Than the C7

The mid-engine, exotic-looking C8 Corvette is attracting an entirely new kind of buyer cross-shopping it with the 911.

Chevrolet’s Corvette has always been a performance bargain, but in reality, it also isn’t cheap. Couple that with the fact that we’re talking about a two-seat sports car, and the Corvette isn’t a viable purchase for a lot of people. Regardless, those with the means and the ability to own something focused on performance and looks have long lined up to purchase one, but it seems that the new C8 Corvette is winning over far wealthier folks than its predecessor ever did.

In fact, C8 Corvette buyers have median household incomes that are a whopping $76,000 higher than customers who purchased C7 Corvettes, according to Steve Hill, North America Vice President, General Motors, as reported by GM Authority. That’s obviously a significant difference in income, especially since the most recent median income for the entire U.S. was just $68,703.

It would appear that the exotic nature of the C8’s mid-engine layout and striking new design are paying off big time for GM. Sales of the C8 were strong in its first year of production, as the 2020 Corvette posted its best performance since 2017, despite the fact that the automaker was hampered by a two-month production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hill also pointed out that two-thirds of C8 Corvette buyers had never owned a Chevrolet vehicle in their life prior to their purchase. In fact, most cross-shopped the new Corvette with the Porsche 911, which is proof that the C8 is attracting an entirely new buyer that might have never considered making the jump before.

But such is the power of the exotic-looking, mid-engine bargain that is the C8 Corvette. Even wealthier buyers can’t deny the fact that the new Corvette offers superior performance to most 911 variants, especially the base 911 Carrera, which starts out at a whopping $99,200 – almost $40,000 more than the base C8. Despite that, the entry-level 911 provides a mere 379 horsepower and 4.0-second 0-60 time, compared to the C8’s 490 horsepower (sans the Z51 package) and 3.0-second 0-60 jaunt.

Throw in the fact that the C8 is virtually guaranteed to turn more heads than a modern-day 911, and it’s no wonder why Chevrolet is attracting an entirely new kind of buyer to the brand. It almost makes you wonder why they didn’t make the switch to a mid-engine layout years ago, as Zora Arkus-Duntov dreamed about.

Photos: Chevrolet

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